London tube stations are to be powered by “clean electricity”, thanks to a new scheme.

Mayor Sadiq Khan has been given permission by energy regulator Ofgem to formally advertise a new type of junior electricity supply licence called ‘licence lite’.

That means he can buy energy from low and zero carbon power generators and sell it directly to the public sector.

The Greater London Authority is looking to purchase clean energy from a generator panel including five London boroughs, social housing provider Peabody and energy companies SSE and Vital Energy.

The electricity purchased would then be used to power escalators and ventilation systems in Tube stations as well as offices and other facilities.

Under the scheme, City Hall claims London will generate more of its own energy in a much cleaner way, creating £300 million of additional investment by 2021, more than 1,600 short term construction jobs and 160 permanent positions.

Mr Khan said: “I want my daughters and every Londoner to grow up in a city that is cleaner and greener, in which people aren’t dying because the air is so filthy and I want London to be at the cutting edge of new green technologies, generating the growth and jobs of the future.”